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Monday, May 6, 2013

The Baseball Historian's Notes for May 6, 2013

Cheating has a long and interesting history in
baseball. From sharpened cleats, corked bats, banned substances and doctored
pitches, players and teams are seemingly always in search of an edge. As former
Chicago Cubs’ first baseman Mark Grace once famously said, “If you’re not
cheating, you’re not trying.”

That being said, there can be a fine line between
what is cheating and what is simply gaining an edge. When something questionable is identified, there is typically a race to classify it as legitimate or cheating. Hardly a
year passes without at least one instance of a player being caught or being
accused of nefarious actions. This year is no exception.

***Following seven shutout innings of work by Clay Buchholz, Toronto Blue Jays radio announcer Dirk Hayhurst accusedthe Boston Red Sox pitcher of doctoring his pitches by using an
unknown substance on his arm. The allegations were then taken up by Jack
Morris, another Toronto announcer and winner of 254 major league games himself.
Both Toronto guys cited unnatural pitch movement and the improvement in
Buchholz’s results this year as the crux of their arguments.

Buchholz denied
cheating. He said he does have substances on his arm and uniform, but
they are rosin and water, which are both legal.

Baseball Prospectus’ Dan
Rozenson effectively squashed the speculation by proving there has been nothing unnatural or out of the
ordinary with Buchholz’s stuff this year. If anything, his early-season success
(6-0, 1.01 ERA) can be attributed to better pitch location.

To say the Toronto announcers may be driven by
ulterior motives would be an understatement. The Blue Jays have
floundered to an 11-21 start after being early favorites for a
playoff spot after a busy offseason. Deflecting attention isn’t out of the
question.

Morris just completed his 14th consecutive unsuccessful
year on the Hall of Fame ballot. He has one more
chance in 2014 for enshrinement before his name comes off the ballot and his
fate is left to the Veteran’s Committee down the road.

Hayhurst, who had a cup of coffee in the majors
as a pitcher, is also an author. He has used the media scrutiny this week to shill his books and essentially turned the fiasco into a tour of
self-promotion.

There is no proof that Buchholz has done anything
wrong. No Toronto players or coaches complained or made insinuations during or
after the game. In the absence of evidence, it’s a shame to besmirch a player
who is enjoying such a wonderful start to the season. Hayhurst and Morris would
be better off adhering to the old chestnut that media needs to stick to
reporting the news instead of making it themselves.

***Speaking
of cheating, it looks like one of baseball’s all-time greats just got caught.
New York Yankees legendary outfielder Mickey Mantle, who has been deceased
since 1995, was recently outed for having used
corked bats.

One
of the Hall of Famer’s game-used bats from 1964 was X-rayed prior to going to
auction this month and was found to have been tampered with and filled with
cork.

*** Tampa Bar Rays’ ace David Price
is struggling mightily this year. After a loss
Saturday night, his record stands at 1-3 with a 6.25 ERA. The most concerning
part of the southpaw’s disappointing start has been the nearly 3 mph he has
lost on his average fastball velocity from last year, according to FanGraphs.com.

If the 26-year-old continues his lethargic pitching, it could be costly
to both him and his team. Although he won the American League Cy Young last
year, he isn’t eligible for free agency until 2016. He won’t get one of the fat
contracts being dealt to top-of-the-line starting pitchers without a solid
track record of success and production leading up to his appearance on the open
market.

A subpar Price also obviously impacts Tampa Bay. With one the weakest offenses
in baseball, they depend on defense and pitching to win games. He is their best
pitcher, and the team will only go as far as he takes them.

***Reports of the demise of pitcher Chris Carpenter’s career may have
been greatly exaggerated. The St.
Louis Post-Dispatch’s Joe Strauss is reporting that the right shoulder
injury that caused the St. Louis Cardinals to place the 37-year-old veteran on
the 60-day disabled list and fueled speculation that his career was over may
have been premature. Carpenter has begun a tentative throwing program, and if
all goes well, could return to the team in relief sometime later this season.

Carpenter is in his 20th professional season and has always been
a starter. However, shorter outings may reduce stress on his shoulder and could
also give the Cardinals’ bullpen a boost in light of closer Jason
Motte being lost for the year because of Tommy John surgery. All the best
to Carpenter in this comeback attempt!

***Atlanta Braves starter Tim Hudson hit a major milestone last week
when he picked up his 200th
career win in a game against the Washington Nationals. Not wanting to leave
the outcome in doubt, Hudson also hit a home run in the game, joining Hall of
Famer Bob Lemon as the only other pitcher to have hit a home run in their 200th
career victory.

The 36-year-old Hudson has been the model of consistency during his
15-year major league career. Entering this season, he had won at least 11 games
in every one of his first 14 seasons except 2009, when he appeared in just
seven games because of injury. He joins Andy Pettitte (248) and Roy Halladay
(201) as the only active pitchers with at least 200 wins.

A baseball ambassador may be too strong a word to use to describe
Backman, but the man sure is one of the more entertaining managers in the game.

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